Neighborhood Watch
by SweetChi
Summary: Already worn down by a nightmare of a case, Kevin Ryan is less than thrilled by the unending construction in the apartment above his. Until he meets who's moving in, that is...
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Written for the 2015 Twisted Shorts Challenge on LJ. It's been a while... Please forgive any errors.

Disclaimer: I own neither Castle or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, am making no money from this and am doing it purely for enjoyment.

 **Neighborhood Watch**

 **Part I**

The pillow didn't keep the sound of hammering and stomping out. You'd think he'd have accepted this weeks ago and given up on practically smothering himself, but Kevin Ryan was nothing if not stupidly optimistic. As if this time the pillow would magically filter out the sounds of construction on the floor above even though it had failed for weeks now.

With a sigh of defeat, he gripped the pillow and tossed it to the side as he rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling with a scowl. He tried to remind himself that it really wasn't an unreasonable time, that the crew never worked past eight at night and never started before seven so he couldn't march upstairs and arrest them all for disturbing the peace. _He_ was the one on the weird schedule of a homicide detective and no one else could be blamed for the fact that he was trying to catch some sleep at one in the afternoon.

But seriously, what the hell were they _doing_ up there?! Damn place must look like a palace by now! The area wasn't terrible, but wasn't great either. Plus the building was ancient; they couldn't put too much money into renovating a single unit and plan to recoup it.

Though he _was_ jealous of the balcony...

Deciding that putting all this thought into the place upstairs wasn't getting him any closer to sleep, Kevin heaved himself out of bed with a weary (and maybe a little exaggerated) groan. He really should've taken up Javi up on his offer to sleep at his place. His couch might be lumpy but at least it was quiet.

His suit was still warm when he put it back on and Kevin's tired mind felt like it was mocking him somehow. But if he couldn't be sleeping then he might as well be working. The case they were working on was ugly – well, they all were, but this one was a little worse than the daily grind type of homicide. He probably wouldn't have gotten any peaceful sleep even if he'd gotten the quiet part. He rubbed his face roughly, stubble that he usually kept under tight rein rasping against his fingers. They always seemed a step behind this killer, getting info and rushing around like chickens with their heads cut off before finding a body and being at a standstill again. He pressed fingers hard enough against his eyes that he saw spots when he opened them – it was better than seeing the image of those poor girls again though…

But despite the lack of anything new to go on at the moment, the case still had gained that electric feeling that meant they were _this close_ to putting the pieces together. But that also meant that the next stretch would be the most exhausting. Hopefully it wouldn't involve finding another pretty blonde mutilated…

Kevin was halfway out the door when the silence registered.

"You've got to be kidding me…" He grumbled with a bitter laugh and a head shake.

Figuring it was too good to be true, that as soon as he got comfortable again the racket would start back up, he headed back to work.

But the racket _didn't_ start up again.

He came home eighteen hours later, suit possibly permanently rumpled and exhaustion weighing his limbs down, to nothing but blissful silence. He crashed onto his bed, not bothering to change or shower in case this was just some kind of trick and the pounding and stomping would start again any minute – even if it was only a few minutes, he wanted some damned sleep. He was therefore surprised when he woke up later to find it dark and his body stiff from staying in one place too long. A glance at the clock and a few minutes processing time for his sleepy mind had him realizing he'd been sleeping for twelve straight hours.

And there'd been no construction upstairs.

"Thank you, sweet baby Jesus…"

He made a face and rolled his tongue around - it was probably blasphemy to speak His name with his mouth tasting the way it did right then.

After grabbing a quick shower and a shave, he threw on a pair of sweats and a tee shirt. Snatching his keys from the table, he headed out. Usually he liked to be a bit more presentable but he doubted the permanently angry guy at the Chinese take-out place down the street would give two craps about how he looked.

Waiting for the elevator he couldn't help but curiously glance at the ceiling, wondering what it looked like up there. Maybe he'd go poke around after he ate, see what all the fuss had been about. It was the cause of so many sleepless nights; the least he should get is a sneak peek at the place.

His stomach growling drew his attention back to the elevator, which seemed to be taking a lot longer than usual. Stabbing the button again with a little too much force, he put his ear to the door and gave a defeated sigh at the lack of any sound of movement on the other side.

 _Constructions guys must've managed to break it. A freaking parting gift…_

As he jogged down the stairs his mind rolled over the reports that still needed done on the case they'd just closed. Hopefully after he got some food in him he'd feel more motivated to get to it. He pulled a grossed out face, realizing that writing reports on those poor girls on a full stomach might not be the best idea. Maybe he'd just write the portion on that day's events tonight instead of the previous murders…

He almost wished Castles wild theory of "an underground cult of demon worshipers" had actually been the case – would definitely be more interesting writing _that_ up than the rinse-and-repeat report of "ridiculously crazy guy that hated his ex who was killed in a shoot-out". But seriously, the way those poor girls died? He was relieved the guy was off the streets but a quick death by bullet was more than that guy deserved. For once he hoped those nuns had known what they were talking about back in school and there was some kind of divine judgment waiting for that guy in the afterlife.

He stepped out of the stairwell and shot the elevator a dirty look, doing a double take when he saw the reason it hadn't come when he called it was because a couch was wedged half inside it. The two legs inside where up against the back wall near the ceiling while the other two were on the ground in the hall.

"Uhhh…" He started, not sure what else to say as he curiously edged toward it.

"Oh!" A voice said from inside the elevator.

Popping up and bouncing a little like she was trying to see over the arm, a blond head and pretty green eyes met his with a sheepish look.

"I am _so_ sorry! I'm totally in your way, right? I'm moving in and I guess I'm not so good with the whole size estimation thing and now I'm kind of… well, stuck…"

A little off balance from those eyes, Kevin just parroted, "Stuck?"

"Yeah, well, the arm is kind of wedged against the door here and I can get it out if I really shove, but I think I'll rip the fabric and my sister picked this couch out and if she finds out I already ruined it before I even got it upstairs… Well, she has a level of screeching only dogs can hear."

Shaking himself out of it, he moved forward to help.

"You were trying to move this upstairs all by yourself?" He asked in confusion. "You don't have any movers or delivery guys or anything?"

"I was a little late," the muffled reply from behind the couch came as she dropped down from her toes. The couch gave a little wiggle and he heard the ominous sound of fabric rasping against something sharp. "I mean, they told me I had to be here, but still! They could've just rescheduled instead of just leaving it here in the lobby."

Kevin shook his head in disgust at the rude delivery men, pulling lightly on the couch from his side. It really was stuck. She had to be all of five foot nothing, how had she gotten it in there at all let alone at such a weird angle?

"Ummm, let me see if I can get it from that side," he said, ducking through the little triangular gap at the bottom.

Coming up on the other side, his breath caught as he realized he hadn't really though this move through. His face came up inches from a pair of tan legs and the view just kept getting better as he stood fully, eyes looking down into the green ones that looked so much better this close. Dear god he was glad he'd showered…

"Sorry, guess I thought there was more room in here," he said, also thankful he'd brushed his teeth.

"Yeah, well join the club," she answered with a sheepish look at the couch.

"Right, let's see what we're dealing with."

With some shuffling that ended up with enough bodily contact that both of them were blushing, they managed to maneuver the couch out with only the loss of a few threads. The soft clean smell of her combined with the close contact was making his head spin a little by the time they stepped out of the elevator.

"Let me call a buddy and we'll get this upstairs for you," he said, pulling his phone from his pocket.

"No, no, no!" She said with a frantic waiving of hands as she leaned toward him from over the back of the couch. "Seriously, I'm good now!"

"You're good? You're going to carry this up to the..."

"Fourth floor," she supplied, eyes ticking off to the side.

"You're going to carry this up the stairs to the fourth- Hey! Are you moving into 407? That's right above me!"

"Oh," she said, blinking at the sudden change in topic before giving a small half smile. "Guess I'll have to keep the clog dancing and living room bowling to a minimum since you helped me out."

He grinned back, "Well, I can always learn to clog and I'm a great bowler. So, only if I'm not invited."

There was kind of weird moment then where they just kind of stared at each other before Kevin realized how rude he was being.

"Sorry, I'm inviting myself to your bowling parties and haven't even introduced myself. Kevin Ryan – 307."

"Buffy," she said, smiling and offering a hand over the back of the couch. "Buffy Summers."


	2. Chapter 2

Part II

"Dude, head in the game!" Javier barked from his crouched position by the suspect's door. "What's with you today?"'

Kev had been a little in la-la-land since this morning and to be honest, Javier was a bit worried about his partner. The last case had been straight _hell_ and while Kevin was an awesome cop and Javier would never call him _soft_ , he felt things a little stronger and was affected a little more deeply by some things than the rest of them. Seeing girl after girl torn apart like that-

Javier pushed that away, he hadn't been sleeping that well himself since that case. Whenever you thought you'd seen the worse humanity had to offer, it up and surprised you by taking it to a whole new level. The few days off the team had taken had helped, but Kev was still looking kinda weird.

"Sorry, man" Kevin said, blinking his focus away from nothing and rubbing his neck sheepishly. "Let's get this guy."

"Seriously, bro, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm good, man," he said, with a shifty look. Seeing Javier's less than convinced look, he continued. "I just met this girl the other night. Moving into that place they renovated upstairs."

Javier let his gun drop out of ready position, his eyebrows rising. "They finally finished that crap? I thought you were looking better. Not as pasty as last week – thought I was going to have to kick some construction worker ass for you."

Something inside Javier loosened a little and breathing felt easier. They'd _all_ been looking a little pasty last week, really…

A girl, huh? He'd been all worried about Kev's mental health and he was just daydreaming about a girl. He couldn't help the grin that crept across his face. Timing couldn't be better – dude needed something good to get his mind outta that case.

And seriously, those construction workers had been _really_ damned close to getting a visit. Beckett and him had already talked about it.

"Thanks, mom," Kevin said with an eye roll, but a slight grin told Javier he appreciated the thought behind the threat. "But I don't need you beating up the big, bad contractors for me. And yeah, they're done. This girl that moved in-"

The door flew open between them, a scruffy man in a bathrobe standing there with a hand on his hip.  
"Jesus, you guys gonna sit out here gossipin' like a couple'a old ladies or you gonna fuckin' arrest me?"

"Uh, right…" Javi said standing slowly while giving Kev a glance and a shrug.

Kevin shrugged back and pulled his gun, aiming it at the suspect. "On the floor! Now!"

With a theatric sigh the guy started to kneel down on the floor, showing them too much skin as the robe shifted.

"Wait, dude, just wait," Javier said, holstering his gun and jerking the guy back to his feet by the back of his scuzzy pink robe. "Go put some freaking clothes on, no one wants to see all that."

The Unis got enough nasty crap in their back seats, they didn't need this guy's dirty balls added to the funk. While keeping one eye on the grumbling thief as he picked clothes off the floor and smelled them, he got back to the matter at hand.

"So, tell me about this girl."

* * *

"Buffy? Her name is _Buffy_?" Javier asked for the third time in a row on the way back to the station.

"Get off it, dude! It's cute!"

"But… _Buffy_?"

Seeing his partner was getting less and less amused, Javier decided to drop the name thing – for now, anyway. Because seriously? This chick was named _Buffy_? That was way too good to just let go. Besides giving him ample teasing ammunition, Javier had to be grateful for the chick for popping up. Some chirpy little blond was just what Kev needed to scrub that shitty case from his mind. Javier rolled his shoulders and pushed that from his mind.

"So, what happened with the couch? Why didn't you call me? I'm always up for meeting a hot chick, no matter what time it is or if heavy lifting is involved," he said, shooting Kevin a smirk. "Or were you worried she'd be less interested in a pasty Irish boy if she got a load of this Latin flavor?"

"Latin flavor?" Kev chuckled before his brow furrowed and his head cocked. "She's actually kind of freakishly strong. She and I got the couch up to the fourth floor – she absolutely refused to let me call you to help."

"Yeah, right. Look at you, so greedy with keeping her to yourself that you made that poor girl help you carry that couch all the way to fourth floor! That's just cold man. I can see you treating me like that, but some poor, defenseless girl you just met?"

But Kev wasn't taking the bait. "Seriously, I think she had an easier time with her end that I had with mine."

He shot a panicked look at Javier, looking for all the world like he'd want nothing more than to suck those words back in. But it was too late…

"You. Me. Gym after work," Javier said with a flat look.


	3. Chapter 3

Part III

"This place is _amazing_."

"You said that last time."

Kevin heard the smile in Buffy's voice but the apartment took up his attention. She was beautiful and his eyes didn't usually like to leave her when she was around, but this place was just… _wow_. He'd of course seen it when they brought the couch up (and was so awed and shocked then that he'd narrowly missed dropping his end and gouging the beautiful wood floors) but the second time didn't make it any less magnificent.

He heard the door click shut behind him but his eyes were still processing the baroque stylings of the sprawling space. No wonder those contractors were making so much noise, they really _were_ building a freaking palace! It was practically a miracle they'd pulled this off as quickly as they had. If he'd known this was what they were turning it into and who was moving in he would've been a lot more forgiving…

"Your sister has great taste."

Finally tearing his eyes away and back to his host he found Buffy glancing around with a furrowed brown, as if she were trying to see it from his point of view, before giving a shrug.

"It's okay. A little much for me, but she had fun planning it all out, and she can be a little obnoxious when she doesn't get her way…"

"Did she pay for it too?" Horrified that he'd been rude enough to bring up money he shot a panicked look at Buffy and started to apologize. "I'm sorry, that's not-"

But Buffy just waved him off with a blasé look.

"We kind of got an inheritance, so…" She gave a shrug. "It's not that it's mine or hers, but just kinda there."

That sounded weird… And interesting… But Kevin felt like he'd pushed his luck enough and let it go. After helping her with the couch (his muscles still burned from the workout Espo had forced him to do – maybe his partner was right and he really _was_ out of shape) he'd only seen her once in passing by the door to the building. She seemed like she was in a hurry, but she still stopped to thank him again and invited him to stop by for dinner one night the following week. She hadn't been in when knocked a few days later but he found a pink post-it on his door the night before, with a girly scribbled "Thursday?" He'd left a manly blue post-it on her door in return with a "Sure! What time?" and a smiley face.

Okay so not so manly…

Kevin stopped as they exited the hall into the living room. There, in the middle of pure opulence, was a mini bowling alley.

"Seriously?" He laughed, looking over at Buffy.

"You brought it up," she said with a grin. "Thought we'd give it a try."

It was probably made for kids, maybe for schools – the pins and ball were plastic and undersized. But they had fun, and by the time the take-out arrived they'd invented trick shot bowling that had both of them laughing and almost breaking quite a few things.

"So, the suit was pretty spiffy," she said later as they sat at the grand dining room table spooning rice out of cardboard containers. "Do I have to earn time with Suit Kevin or what?"

He gave a sheepish grin and glanced down at his jeans and button down.

"I'm kidding," she said, drawing his attention back to her with a hand on his wrist. "Not that I didn't like the suit, but I'd rather you be comfortable."

He'd been wearing a three piece with the pink shirt Javi always made fun of when he'd run into her the other day. The appreciative look she'd given him had made Javi's comments nothing but dull background noise.

"I just feel like I'm at work when I'm in a suit," he said with a shrug.

"And what's work?"

"This thing people do – they offers services in exchange for money-"

She flicked a pea at him from the fried rice. "Smart ass."

"I'm a detective. Homicide," he said, watching her reaction.

She paused, food halfway to her mouth, before slowly lowering it back to her plate.

"Oh…"

He cringed a little inside. The job thing was hard for some girls to take. Some were shocked (and probably a little disgusted) to know he was around dead bodies and criminals all day. Others were totally into it but that was fleeting once they got a load of the weird hours, random injuries and occasionally coming home smelling like a dumpster that came with the territory. A few cancelled dates when cases took precedence and they were off searching for greener pastures.

"Glad I picked bowling over 'Clue – Find the Body Edition'", she said with a shrug and popped her bite back in her mouth. "You might've actually won that…"

"Hey!" He protested, silently elated she brushed the news off so easily. "I got some pretty amazing trick shots in!"

"Pshhh, the one with the vase and the curtain spin don't count – that was pure luck."

"Or amazing intuition."

"Yeah, still going with luck on that one."

Later that night, full of food and running on the high of having had a really great time, Kevin had kissed her. Not his usual modus operandi - a kiss on the first date (and was this even a date?!) wasn't really his style, but she just looked so… _kissable_ standing there. It was quick and chaste, but she hadn't pulled away. She even had a little shy smile as she'd watched him walk down the hall that had bolstered his confidence even more.

That night while he'd was lying in bed staring at the ceiling, wondering when he should ask her out on a real date and what they should do, his phone rang. He groaned as he looked at the time, knowing it could only be work this late.

"Ryan," he answered, sounding glum.

"I need you at 24th and Lex," Beckett's curt voice came over the line. "We didn't get him. It's started again."

Dread pooled in Kevin's stomach. He didn't need her to clarify, he knew exactly which case she was talking about and what would be waiting for him at that address.

Upstairs at the same time, Buffy's phone rang.

"It's started again," came the British voice in place of a greeting. "They didn't stop it."

Closing her eyes, Buffy slumped and fought back the guilt in knowing another girl was dead because of her.


	4. Chapter 4

Part IV

Kevin Ryan trudged through his door, dragging his coat along the floor that had gathered some dust since he'd been home so little lately. He'd only been home periodically through the week and just for a few hours here and there. This time would be no different – pass out for a while and then drag his ass back in until he was ready to collapse again.

Three more bodies. Three more girls dead. And the NYPD, their precinct in particular, with egg on their face because they'd "caught the killer" weeks ago.

Apparently not.

He climbed wearily onto his bed, rolling onto his back and looking up at the ceiling. He'd left a quick post-it on Buffy's door a few days ago, promising he wanted to get together again as soon as work calmed down, but he hadn't gotten a return pink sticky…

He thought he'd seen her rushing out of the building yesterday as he was making his way inside. But she hadn't seen him. Or maybe she had. Maybe this was it, he thought glumly. Either she thought he wasn't interested any more or she was seeing how unpredictable his work was and wanted no part of it.

Or she saw him in the background at that news conference where they admitted they'd screwed up and more people were dying because of it…

He pressed his hands to his face, fingers digging into his hair and pulling slightly. He needed to get up, shower, _sleep_. The worried looks the others were giving him was wearing on him almost as much as the case. He didn't get it! They were _all_ taking this case hard, they were _all_ looking like crap on a cracker, why was _he_ getting singled out?

 _"You alright, Ryan?"_

 _"Take a break, man. Go get some rest."_

 _"Let it go. Don't let it get to you like that."_

He knew they were just worried, but seriously? Did he look deranged or something? Yeah, he was pissed off and disgusted – what this guy was doing to these girls was like something straight out of a horror movie – but that didn't mean he was losing it or something. He was sure all of them were feeling the same way, he just found it a little harder to keep in than them.

He stared up at the ceiling wishing he could go see Buffy. He was sure just being around her would make him feel better. That was a bad idea though. If she wasn't ready to run for the hills already, she would be after getting a load of him looking all haggard and hollow eyed. Shaking off the second of happiness he'd had in the thought of spending some time with her, he closed his eyes. Just for a second. Then he'd shower and change and…

His eyes snapped open as a crash rattled the light above his bed hard enough to shake one of the globes free. It dropped harmlessly on his bed before bouncing off and shattering on the floor. Kevin blinked at the glass shards reflecting moonlight, his sleepy mind wondering what in the hell just happened. Glancing at the clock told him it was just past three in the morning so he'd fallen asleep a few hours ago. Maybe that globe had been loose? Someone slamming a door down the hall was the last little push it needed to-

The light shook again as the sound of something hitting the floor upstairs with force made him jump.

"Buffy," he said, scrambling out of bed and grabbing his gun from the bedside table.

Forgoing shoes he burst out into the hall, running full tilt for the stairwell. He took them two at a time, his mind racing over the possibilities. Jesus, she was slight and blonde. Just like all of the other victims lately. Why hadn't he seen that? He was so _stupid_! He burst out of the stairwell on her floor and sprinted down the hall, honestly surprised when he found her door closed and locked.

"What the-"

The sound of shattering glass came from inside. A lot of glass – not like his little globe. It was followed by the strangest sound he'd ever heard, a kind of growling howl that made the hair on his arms stand up followed by the sound of something else breaking. Racking his gun he pulled his foot back and kicked the door in. The sight inside took his breath away.

Mayhem. Chaos. Destruction. His mind tumbled over synonyms as his eyes raked over the damage. The flawless apartment had been ripped apart. Everywhere his eyes landed things were broken, shattered and just torn apart. Even the freshly painted walls had cracks and holes and… What the hell? Were those _claw marks_?

Heart pounding and gun at ready, he crept further into the apartment. The first splatter of blood hit him hard. The large pool of it by the shattered doors leading to the balcony hit him harder. His cops mind was screaming at him to clear the apartment first, but something more primal was pushing him toward those doors. Easing forward, a dull roar in his ears, he felt some blood soak into the bottom of his sock. _Still warm_ , his numb mind helpfully supplied. He moved around the red slick, the part of him that was on auto-pilot ignoring the whisper about "preserving evidence" - his mind and heart weren't ready to consider this a crime scene.

The nightmarish scene continued on the balcony. Little cute bistro knocked over and broken, splattered with more blood – the trail leading right to-

"No…" His breath caught as he forgot protocol and rushed to the railing.

There, four stories down, limbs splayed and blond hair glowing in the moonlight, was Buffy.

Kevin stared down at the broken and bloody figure in the alley below, vision shaking a little with each eartbeat.

 _No… This isn't… She can't…_

Breath hitching he turned and rushed for the door. He was so busy groping in his pockets for the phone he'd left in his apartment, he missed the red head watching him from the shadows with a furrowed brow.


	5. Chapter 5

Part V

Kevin burst into the hall so fast he hit the opposite wall – his socked feet not gripping like shoes would. As he ran for the stairs a head popped out from the apartment to the right.

"What's with all the racket?"

"Call the police," he barked, not slowing down.

"But _you're_ the police!" The bewildered voice followed him as he flew down the stairs.

"Make sure they bring an ambulance!" He called back.

She wasn't dead. She couldn't be dead. That's what he kept telling himself as he flew down the stairs and out of the building. Again, Kevin Ryan was nothing if not stupidly optimistic.

He slowed as he reached the alley next to the building, gun down and at ready. He cringed a little realizing it was pointless – whoever had done this was probably still upstairs in the apartment he hadn't cleared. There was no way out except the front door and the balcony, so unless he jumped…

 _How did he get in?_ His cop's voice asked remembering the locked door he'd kicked in. Was it someone Buffy knew? Jesus, they were going to pull his badge when they found out he'd let the bastard get away…

Looking around the corner cautiously, just in case, he didn't understand what he was seeing at first. The longer he looked the less sense it made. Coming out to stand fully in the mouth of the alley, he stared at the spot he was sure he'd seen Buffy laying in moments before. But now the space was empty.

*****

Tires squealed against the pavement as Javier slammed on the brakes in-between a police car and an ambulance in front of Kevin's building. He jumped out, leaving the door open and running to where the flashing lights were illuminating Kevin gesturing wildly ( _Where the fuck are his shoes?_ ) to the Uni.

"Javi," Kevin said, slumping in relief before shooting an "eat shit and die" look at the officer and snarling. "We got this."

The paramedic was looking at Kev like he was insane (he _was_ looking a little deranged – hair standing on end, wrinkled suit that Javi was _sure_ he'd been wearing yesterday, wild eyes and no shoes) but the cop put his hands out in a pacifying way that was pissing Javier off and backed away, tugging the paramedic with him.

"We'll wait in the car," he said shooting a loaded glance a Javier.

What the fuck was going on?

He was about to ask Kev just that when Beckett's car pulled up, closely followed by Castle's. Looking back at Kevin, he saw that he was looking more and more agitated as he kept glancing down the alley. As soon as Beckett and Castle were in hearing distance he asked the question all of them wanted to know.

"Dude, what the hell's going on? Dispatcher had no details other than you wanting cops and a bus at your building."

"Okay, this is going to sound crazy," he mumbled the last part, shooting another look down the alley. "But there was a bod- a person down there. And now they're gone."

"Okay… Clarifying that was not," Castle said, looking concerned.

"Start from the beginning," Beckett suggested.

"Right," Kevin said, shaking his head a little and standing up straighter. "Sounds of an altercation in the apartment above mine woke me up about half an hour ago."

"Buffy's place?" Javiar asked, getting worried where this was heading.

" _Buffy_?" Castle asked, eyebrow shooting up.

"Dude, I know, but not now," Javiar said as he gave Castle a little head shake.

"Yeah, Buffy's place…"

Javier was _not_ liking the direction Kevin's choked voice suggested this was going…

"Obvious signs of a fight in the apartment," Kevin continued, not looking at any of them. "A lot of blood by the balcony."

He looked up at it and they all followed suit.

"And she was laying down here," he whispered. "Right there…"

" _Was_?" Castle asked.

"Yeah. When I got down here she was gone."

"Someone took her body?" Kate asked, before realizing what she said. "I mean-"

"I don't know," Kevin said, looking more tired than Javier had ever seen him. "I know she was there. She- she looked in bad shape. Not going anywhere on her own. There was blood. There was glass. Now there's nothing."

Kate was already marching down the alley, Castle on her heels. Kev didn't seem eager to go back down there so Javier stayed next to his partner. He watched them squat down under the balcony, heads swiveling left and right before standing and talking quietly.

The look on Kate's face when they came back was one Javier couldn't quite place.

"Ryan, there's nothing there. No sign anything _was_ there. Glass can be swept up but blood… It's not even wet."

Oh, so confusion mixed with skepticism was what that was. Javier was feeling the same. After a beat of silence, Javair said what he knew they were all thinking.

"You've been tired, man. This case has been-"

"I _know_ what I saw," Kevin growled, making Javier see why the cop and paramedic were looking the way they were when he got there.

"Let's go up to her apartment," Castle said, looking up at the balcony again. He didn't say whether it was to prove Kevin was or wasn't crazy though.

They waited for the elevator in silence, Kev shifting from foot to foot in agitation. He jumped when Javier put a hand on his shoulder.

"Chill man, we'll figure this out."

But that didn't get any closer to happening as they stood outside this Buffy girl's door. It was standing open, frame shattered from an obvious forced entry. Javier was actually pretty impressed Kev was able to pull that off with no shoes on…

But the door was standing wide open. And inside was nothing, except-

"Holy Expensive Taste, Batman," Castle said, the first to wander through the door as he looked around.

They all followed, gaping as they looked around at the crazy-ass apartment – clearing all the rooms as much as they were just being nosey. Those construction guys must've worked their asses off. Looking back at Kevin to say so, he was stopped by the look of devastated confusion on his friends face.

"Bro…"

"This- this wasn't like this," Kev said, sounding a little too wild for Javier's liking. "That and that and that were all broken. This was all crushed. There was blood, _a lot of blood_ , all over there. The doors were broken…"

He wandered past them in a daze, going to the perfectly in-tact balcony doors and pushing them open. The view was kind of crappy, but it was still a nice little addition.

"I don't understand," Kevin's soft voice drifted back to him from where he was looking over the balcony, making something clench hard in Javier.

"You've been working your ass off on this case," Kate said, moving up behind him slowly. "You probably crashed when you got home, dreamed this girl up here was getting attacked-"

"Dreamed I kicked her door in and saw a fucking crime scene," Kevin snarled as he spun around. "The door's broken, I was here. I didn't wake up in bed and rush downstairs. I was _here_."

"Maybe you were still half asleep, man."

The betrayed look Kevin leveled at him made Javier wish he'd kept his mouth shut. Even more so when he saw Kevin's face smooth out and blank of emotion.

"You're right, probably just tired is all," he said, walking past them. "Sorry I got you guys out of bed. Apologize to the guys downstairs for me, will you?"

"Where is she then?" Castle said suddenly, stopping Kevin. "It's four in the morning? She's not here?"

"She's probably just out," Beckett reasoned, shooting Castle a dark look as Kevin turned to look at him. "Not everyone keeps normal hours. She'll probably be home in little while. Then you'll have to explain what you did to her door."

Her attempt at lightening the situation fell flat as they followed Kev down to his apartment.

"You've been living and breathing blonde women getting murdered for weeks now," Javier said softly as they stopped at his door. "It really wouldn't be surprising if you were living it while you slept too. Maybe it was just a dream. I'm sure she's fine."

Kevin gave a curt nod and shut the door in his face.

*****

Downstairs after sending the Uni and medic on their way, Kate was still looking worried.

"I'm going get in touch with the building manager – let him know about the door and see if I can't get a number for this Buffy girl so Ryan can see her with his own eyes. I don't think he'll be able to relax and let this go until he does."

"Think we should talk to the Cap about getting him some time off? Bro needs a breather if he's-" Javier cut himself off and just gave a shrug.

"We will if we have to," Beckett said, looking none too happy about the idea. "Let him get some rest, see that she's okay and we'll see how he's doing after that. I don't want to bring the Captain into it unless we absolutely have to. If he still seems… _off_ , we'll see if we can get him to voluntarily take some time."

Javier nodded, not wanting to put Kev in the position of taking forced leave, but worried for his partners mental health more. This job was a bitch, hopefully Kev would realize that some time to get his head straight would be good for him…

Javier looked at Castle, surprised he wasn't running off at the mouth with wild theories and cracking jokes. Castle was looking back at the alley, brow furrowed and thoughtful. Maybe dude was learning a little tact and would help them figure out what was _actually_ going on. Or maybe he was just as worried about their friend as Javier…

Unfortunately things didn't get any better back at the station. Or less weird.

The building manager had no record of a "Buffy" in that apartment and hadn't seen or spoken to her. It was leased to a holding company in Scotland and was supposed to be used for temporary housing for employees and clients when they were in the city on business.

None of the building's residents had seen a new petite blond move in either.

Javier rubbed his face and leaned back in his chair, catching Beckett's eye and giving each other a loaded look.

This wasn't looking good for Kev…


	6. Chapter 6

Part VI

"What the hell hap- oh my god!"

Dawn slid to a stop, a hand flying to her mouth as she saw her sister on the bed. Pale and still with a bandage around her head and a bunch of machines hooked up to her. She didn't even twitch even though Dawn knew she'd been less than quiet in her arrival.

Swallowing hard, she tore her eyes from Buffy and looked to Willow for some answers.

"She'll be fine," Willow said quickly. "Her slayer healing along with a little magical boost took care of almost everything."

"What happened?" Dawn managed to get out her question now that she could take a step back from the freak out ledge.

"I'm sorry, Dawnie, I don't know," Willow said, looking regretful. "By the time I got there whatever did this was gone and she was…"

"We had wards in place! Wards _you_ put in place! This shouldn't – how?"

"The wards worked," Willow nodded. "They were just supposed to alert of us of anything supernatural trying to get into her apartment. It was just that… well, no one noticed the alarm going off at first. I zapped there as soon as I did."

Dawn's jaw fell open. "No one _noticed_?! It sounds like a freaking fire alarm!"

"That would be because the _actual_ fire alarm was going off," Xander said as he walked in, cringing as he looked at Buffy. "There was a cooking incident. The girls have been watching too much Master Chef…"

Dawn's nostrils flared as she pulled in a deep breath and put a hand to her forehead to stop the twitch that was developing there.

"Can anyone tell me anything _useful_?"

"Uh, she's going to be fine," Willow said, seeming to want to repeat that fact. "She's mostly healed except for her head…"

"Except for her- _Isn't that the most important part?_ " Dawn said, voice getting higher and higher. "Can't you like, magic it better or something? You said you magically boosted the healing right? So don't stop with the job half done!"

"Giles wouldn't let me," Willow pouted. "Said there were too many things that could go wrong shoving magic into her brain. Got reamed for zapping the both of us back here as it was…"

As much as she wanted her sister awake and alert, she made a mental note to thank Giles later. She hadn't really thought that demand through…

"So, we have any clue what did this?" Xander asked, sitting down in a chair next to Buffy's bed.

Willow shook her head. "It was gone by the time I got there. Either it thought it had gotten the job done or Buffy caused enough damage that it had to leave – there was a lot of blood." Seeing Dawn's alarmed look, she shook her head quickly. "Mostly not Buffy blood. Something else blood."

"Can we figure out what it was from the blood?"

"I'm going to try, I haven't had time yet."

A thought suddenly occurred to Dawn. "Wait, how much blood? What did it get on?!"

"You mean did it get on anything expensive?" Will asked, eyebrows raised. "Because the answer would be yes since everything in there is ridiculously expensive. Wasn't the girl's safe house in New York supposed to be inconspicuous? Not something a visiting prince from Saudi Arabia would expect?"

"I'm sure the fact you plan on taking some classes at NYU in the fall is only coincidence," Xander said, trying to look innocently curious and failing miserably.

"I got good deals on everything," Dawn defended. "I just think Slayers risking their lives to keep New York safe should get a little bit of luxury. And, I mean, sure, if I had a study group or something looking for a quiet place, then maybe we'd stop by…"

"Yeeeeeeah," Willow said, obviously unconvinced despite Dawn's inarguable logic. "Well, no worries, Dawnie. Your study pad is spic and span. I had to do a rush clean-up because that cop Buffy's been seeing showed up."

"Wait, Buffy's been seeing someone? Buffy has a guy and I'm just now hearing about it!"

Wait until her sister woke up from that coma or whatever…

"Willlow… what did you do?" Xander's loaded question had Dawn getting over her outrage and seeing Willow's uncomfortable and shady look.

"I'm not good under pressure!" She burst out. "I mean, we couldn't have cops crawling all over that place, right? There was some kind of monster blood on the floor and claw marks!"

"Will…"

"He saw it all," she cringed. "I had just gotten there when he kicked the door open. When he ran out to check on Buffy I did a quick spell to reverse the damage and zapped Buffy back with me. Well, almost all the damage – I heard a neighbor out in the hall after he left, so I had to leave the broken door since they saw that, too…"

Dawn was looking at Willow with her mouth hanging open. "So you're just going to let him think he's crazy?! You fixed everything and whisked Buffy away like nothing happened? That's so _mean_!"

"I told you! Willow plus pressure equals bad!"

"You did the right thing," Giles said from the doorway.

"Giles, Buffy was seeing this guy. He's-"

"A police officer. And he had the neighbor Willow heard in the hall call 911. New York is not Sunnydale where the unexplainable is normal and easily written off. And we've yet to build any contacts within the police force that could help us with any… _situations_ like this. "

"Well, maybe we would've gotten one if Willow hadn't made him think he was nutso!"

"We have enough of a headache on our hands with the police trying to figure out what's killing these girls. Having them find any similarities in the cases could lead to questions that would make things exceedingly problematic. Since you used Council funds to furnish that flat…"

The last part was a little accusatory for Dawn's liking, but she decided she'd give Giles the benefit of the doubt and move on.

She put out there hesitantly, "We could've asked-"

"I think they've made enough of a mess of things," Xander growled, cutting her off.

"What's done is done," Giles said, sounding tired as he looked down at Buffy. "If Buffy cares for this young man then its best he's not involved. Lord knows we have enough complications as it is…"

"We all know who's fault that is," Kennedy said, joining the room that was getting smaller by the minute.

"If you blame this on my sister, I'm going to kick your ass – slayer power or not," Dawn snarled.

Kennedy put her hands up, but otherwise looked unruffled. "I was going to say Wolfram and Hart, but you threw her name out there."

"It was the best option at the time," Giles said, cleaning his glasses. "Definitely not something we'd opt for given any other choice."

"There's always another choice besides trusting Angel and his band of evil lawyers," Xander countered. "One that we're going to have to pick now, since they failed so spectacularly."

"We'll still have to rely on their contact within the police force for information on any new murders, Xander. We don't have the resources-"

"I understand that, but we can send a team in-" He paused. "In fact, I think I'm going to New York myself."

"Very well," Giles conceded. "But for the love of god take someone with some tact-"

"I'll go," Dawn offered.

"NO!" Everyone chorused.

"Hey! What's that-"

"I'll go," Kennedy offered next.

There wasn't a chorus of "no" this time, but no one agreed either – instead opting to look shifty and uncomfortable and not meet Kennedy's eyes. If there was anyone with less tact than Dawn it had to be Kennedy…

"I'm from New York, alright? I may not know anyone in the police department, but I know people and I know the city."

"Sounds good to me," Xander said, standing and giving the still silent Buffy's hand a squeeze. "Pack a bag. And we're flying – no offence Will, but you're not zapping me anywhere."


	7. Chapter 7

Part VII

Ryan listened to the others shuffle awkwardly outside his door. He'd been rude, shutting the door in Javi's face like that but he just couldn't stand that worried sympathetic look for another second. His best friends thought he was crazy and-

Maybe he was.

He let out a shuddering breath as he heard them leave and leaned against the front door, sliding down so he was sitting on the floor. They were right – he'd been running himself ragged over this case the last few weeks. Was it possible that his brain made up some elaborate hallucination that Buffy had been killed?

 _Well, that's fucked up. Because shouldn't I have been at least able to save_ her _if she was a figment of my imagination? A desperate attempt to make up for all the blond bodies I've been seeing lately?_

Scrubbing his face roughly, he pulled himself to his feet and headed for the shower. He'd get some rest, see how he was feeling in the morning, and maybe talk to the force shrink. If he was making up Buffy getting killed in weird and gruesome ways then he needed some mental help.

Pulling off his suit jacket, he paused and wilted a little more. He'd gotten something on the sleeve. His drycleaner was practically a miracle worker, but with as many bodies and dumpsters he got acquainted with there were lots of stains that even the Guru of Cleaning couldn't defeat. Picking at it with his fingernail, he was relieved to see the bit of red come right off. Just a bit of flaked dried blood.

Where did-

Kevin looked at his palms, seeing the left had the same flakey blood specks dried in the crease. He stopped breathing. That meant-

Sitting down on the toilet so hard he broke one of the clasps on the seat, almost sending him sliding onto the floor, he ripped off his right sock.

There on the bottom was a large red stain.

Clenching the sock in his hand, his jaw tightened in anger. He had no idea how it was possible, but now he _knew_ what he'd seen had been real. Someone was screwing with him. And nothing was going to stop him from finding out who and why.

And what the hell had happened to Buffy…

* * *

Castle sluggishly came to, his mind not processing what the shaking was until his bleary eyes made out his mother standing above him.

"Can't go to school. Sick," he begged off, eyes closing again.

"Richard, you're not ten. Except occasionally mentally and emotionally. Now wake up!" The last was accentuated by a shove that had nearly had him toppling off the bed.

"Alright, alright, jeez," he whined. Rocking himself into a semi-upright position. "I'm up."

Then he looked at the clock.

"And I'm not," he said, flopping back down with a hand over his eyes. "You realize I haven't even been home an hour?"

"Detective Ryan is here," she said quietly. "And he's not looking so hot if I may say so. If anyone should've stayed it bed, it's that poor boy."

Castle's brow furrowed as he woke up a little more. "Ryan? Is here?"

"Isn't that what I just said? Now get up and tend to your guest. It took forever to wake you up. Almost made me late," she huffed, striding from the room in a flurry of clicking heels.

He could hear the sound of her voice ( _Not complaining about Ryan making her late…_ ) in the other room and forced himself up and out of the bed – giving a pout and little whine as he looked back at it. After splashing some water on his face he wandered out into the living room.

Ryan spun to look at him, looking a little less crazed than the last time he saw him, but still kind of manic. He was at least wearing clean clothes and had shaved – which was more than Castle could say at the moment.

He opened his mouth, but Castle stopped him with an upheld hand and said with a still sleep gritty voice, "Whatever it is, it'll have to wait until I get some coffee, because nothing is going to register right now."

Ryan looked a little more like his old self as he gave a sheepishly apologetic nod, following Castle to the kitchen and sliding onto a stool. Castle puttered around the kitchen on autopilot as his mind reluctantly kicked into gear.

What was Ryan doing there? He looked like he'd gotten a little rest, at least. Lucky him - Castle and the others had been at the precinct trying to find any information on "Buffy" until just a little over an hour ago.

He gulped down three quick swallows and burnt the hell out of his tongue as soon as the coffee was ready.

"Ow, ow, ow," he hissed before taking another, more reasonable, sip.

He then made Ryan a cup, leaning on the counter across from him and sliding it over.

"Okay, might not be the sharpest tool in the shed at the moment, but I think I'm ready."

"So we're at normal operating level then," Ryan gave a ghost of a smirk.

"I'm usually above all the sharp tools, I am the shed," he nodded sagely.

"So… you keep all the tools inside you?"

Castle's brow furrowed. "Yeaaaah, that doesn't sound right either. See, not at my sharpest."

Silence fell as Castle worked on his coffee a little more, waiting for Ryan to get comfortable enough to get to the reason of his visit. Unfortunately, patience was never his strong suit.

"You get some sleep?"

Ryan nodded.

"Any sign of Buffy?"

Ryan shook his head. "Stopped by this morning. Maintenance fixed the door."

Castle took another sip, eyes not leaving Ryan as he shifted in his seat before he straightened up and gripped his coffee cup so hard his knuckles were turning white.

"Listen, I know what that looked like last night. But… I need to know… ," he paused and took a deep breath before looking Castle in the eye. "You're always putting wild theories out there. Is that all talk or do you think the impossible can really be possible?"

Castle looked at him closely. "You're sticking to your story. You really believe what you say you saw was there."

Ryan didn't even blink. "I do."

"What makes you so sure? You know we did a search on this 'Buffy' last night at the station. Her name's not on the lease and none of the tenants or the manager have seen her."

Ryan looked shocked for a moment but then shook his head. "So now everyone thinks I not only made up what happened to her, but that I actually made up _her_."

"That's where the evidence is pointing," Castle said with a shrug.

"What I saw was real, Castle. And I have proof."

Castle was always up for the unexplained, but he really thought they'd reached the end of Ryan's mental line when he pulled out an old, dirty sock. Until he flipped it over revealing a dirty blood stain on the bottom.

"I stepped in blood in Buffy's apartment by the balcony doors. And I got some on my hand when I leaned to look over the balcony," he said, removing a small plastic baggie from his pocket with some tiny dark flecks in it.

Castle's leaned forward, holding his breath. Partially because Ryan needed to spray that sock with some febreeze or something, but also because his gut was getting tingley. There might actually be something here…

"It could be your blood," he said, playing the Devil's advocate on the side of logic for once. "You were running around in an alley without any shoes. If that's the case I'd suggest getting your shots updated- What are you-"

He stopped as Ryan slid off the stool and toed off his shoes, sitting down on the floor. He pulled his socks off and waved the pristine white bottoms of his feet up at Castle.

"I know I could've gotten that sock anywhere, done anything with it," he said, putting his feet down and leaning on his knees with his forearms as he looked up at Castle. "But I'm telling you I didn't. I'm telling you I stepped in blood in Buffy's apartment. I know I look crazy to everyone else, but I'm asking you to help me figure out what the hell is going on."

"Stop, just stop," Castle said, feigning tearing up. "You had me at 'there was a body, but now it's gone'."

Ryan slumped in relief and they grinned at each other a moment before Ryan set to work putting his socks back on.

"So, no body, no crime scene, no clues except my dirty sock. Where should we start?" Ryan asked.

"No idea," Castle said. "But at some point in this new partnership of ours I'm introducing you to the wonderful world of pedicures."


	8. Chapter 8

**Part VIII**

Kevin slung the bag out over the edge of the dumpster, taking pleasure in Castle's "Hey!" as it narrowly missed him. Never thought he'd be diving for his _own_ trash. At least it was the recycling bin instead of actual trash this time.

"Banquet meals? Really, Ryan?" Castle called already having ripped the bag open and rummaging through its contents.

"They're cheap and quick. All I've had time for the last couple weeks."

"No wonder your brain is rebelling…"

Kevin gave a small smile as he climbed out. Strangely enough, it made him feel better that Castle was teasing him about being "crazy". He doubted he'd say such things if he actually thought Kevin was losing his mind. Well, maybe. It was Castle after all.

"You said it was pink, right?"

"Yeah. I know it's in that one because it has the envelope for my paycheck," Kevin said, picking out said envelope from the mess Castle was making and giving it a little wave. "I was all pissed off because they screwed up my overtime. Her note made me forget all about that…"

"Awwww," Castle said, stopping his pawing to look at him all dewy eyed. "I really hope she's real, because the ammunition for giving you shi-"

"There!" Kevin interrupted, catching sight of a pink corner.

"Nice try at deflection," Castle said, pulling on said corner and revealing a Victoria's Secret catalog. "Ooh la la… You do a lot of lingerie shopping Detective Ryan?"

Kevin felt himself turn pink, but was helpless to stop it. "Previous tenant."

"Sure," Castle chuckled. "I'd say the same thing. You know, if I had any shame. Oh, what's this!"

The sight of the little pink post it brought a ridiculous amount of relief to Kevin. He'd told Castle he was sure of what he saw, but each little piece of evidence to back that up felt like a piece of his sanity returned.

The " _Thursday?_ " scribbled across it became visible as Castle straightened it out and suddenly Ryan felt sick. Here he was being _happy_ that he was being proven right? What the hell was wrong with him? If he was right then that meant Buffy…

"I think I'd rather be crazy," he said, staring at that post-it.

Castle looked up at him from his squatted position next to the bag, face serious for once.

"You think she's dead?"

"You didn't see what I saw," he answered quietly. "I mean, I keep telling myself that she could be okay, but… Even if she's alive, she can't be okay. Not with all that blood and falling that far…"

"She could be the one screwing with you."

Ryan blinked. For some reason that had never even occurred to him.

"I guess that's possible. Not really a great option but better than her being hurt, or worse…"

"Or maybe it's not her blood," Castle said, standing. "Let's go get another co-conspirator, shall we?"

* * *

"You want me to what now?" Lanie asked, taking a step away from the filthy sock dangling between them.

"Test the blood on the bottom of it," Castle said with the sock dangling from two of his fingertips between them.

"And there's this," Kevin said, holding out a baggy.

"Did we get a new case? Because I haven't heard anything about it," she said, giving the two of them a squinty eyed look of suspicion.

"It's not for a case per se," Castle said with a shrug. "Just something Ryan and I are working on."

"That's _not_ reassuring," she said flatly.

Kevin stepped in front of Castle, elbowing the sock away from his face. "It's about a friend of mine. She's missing and this is really all we have to go on. Can you-"

"Oh and this!" Castle said pulling the post-it from his pocket.

"You," she said pointing at Kevin. "Should know how to handle evidence better. And you, are an idiot, but I still expected you to have done enough research to not go shoving crap in your pockets that could help with a case. Even an unofficial one."

She grabbed a couple bags for the sock and post-it and took the baggie of blood flecks.

"Thank you, Lanie," Kevin said, feeling a huge surge of gratefulness. "Really, I appreciate it."

Lanie's face softened and she shook her head. "Don't thank me yet, sweetie. I'm not sure I'll be much help with this. Looks like the sock got drug all over the city."

"Whatever you can tell us- Hell, even if you can't tell us anything- still, thank you."

"You okay?" She asked, looking at him closely. "You seem a little worked up about this."

Kevin struggled with what to say, should he tell her the truth? Would she be as logical about the whole thing as Beckett and Javi or would the actual presence of the blood sway her to his side? Luckily he didn't have to explain anything as her phone rang right then.

"I have to go," she said when she hung up. "But I'll do what I can. Might be a little while – work load isn't exactly light at the moment. But I want some answers when you come back? Got it?"

Kevin nodded, elbowing Castle again as he whispered "Quid pro quo, Clarice" in his ear from behind, and gave her a crooked smile. "Sure thing. Just, uh, can you keep this between us three?"

If anything, she looked more curious after that statement. Kevin could see her struggling with the desire to ask more questions, but finally just settled on a shrug. "Fine. But seriously. Answers soon."

"So, uh, what was the call," Castle asked, following her to the door. "Anything new and gruesome I might- _gurk_ -"

Castle made a little gargling sound as Kevin pulled him the other way by the back of his jacket. "Man, I swear you have the attention span of a puppy…"

* * *

"Well, to find suspects we need to find out what we can about Buffy," Castle said once back in the car. "You said you guys had dinner right? Where?"

"At her place," Kevin said, frowning. "Delivery. And I paid and answered the door."

"Hmm, we can dig into that holding company in Scotland," Castle suggested. "Her name might not be on the lease, but maybe she's one of the clients or something?"

"She said she and her sister got an inheritance and she let the sister decorate the place with the money. Never mentioned anything about a company."

"She say what she did for a living?"

Ryan shook his head. "I asked but then we got distracted."

Castle looked over with an eyebrow waggle. "How distracted?"

Kevin gave him a scathing look. "We were bowling and her shot went wild - ricocheted off that replica of David. Still made a strike though…"

"Wait, what? I'll need a little more explaining after a sentence like that."

"When we first met and I found out she was moving in upstairs – which is another thing we can check on. That couch was delivered to the building. The jackasses just left it in the lobby. So if we can find out where it came from, maybe we can get some info. Anyway, she made a joke about laying off the living room bowling. She picked up some little indoor bowling game and we played the night we had dinner."

"Now we're getting somewhere," Castle said with a grin, veering into traffic.

"And that 'where' would be…"

"Toys! She had to buy that game somewhere, right? And I know every toy store in the city. Stores mean surveillance footage and credit cards."

"Unless she bought it online."

"Unless she- who buys toys online?! Half the fun is going to the store!"

"Not everyone thinks like you, Castle," Ryan said, not able to help a small smile at the writer's outrage.

"Yes, I suppose there are some poor unfortunate souls out there… "

"We could go check out the couch instead."

"We'll stop in when I drop you off, get a picture. I'll send it to a couple people that could probably tell me where it came from. But for now… Toys!"

"See. Puppy," Ryan said, shaking his head.


	9. Chapter 9

Part IX

"Peanut?" Dawn asked holding the bag out.

"No, I don't want a-"

"Ooh, I do," Xander said, eagerly reaching across the table. "Didn't you eat yours on the plane?"

"I did, but the stewardess gave me an extra when I got you two to shut up and take a nap," Dawn grinned.

"And here I thought she liked me," Xander pouted.

"She did," Dawn answered, eating a couple more nuts from the tiny bag. "Until you opened your mouth."

Xander didn't seem any less disappointed by that revelation, but hey, it was the truth. He and Kennedy had snarked at each other pretty much nonstop for hours. Dawn had been smart enough to bring earplugs but glancing up from her fashion mag she'd noticed the murderous glare coming from some of the surrounding passengers and crew and decided to step in before there was mutiny at twelve thousand feet. And they hadn't wanted to bring her! She'd already saved their asses and that was just on the trip over! The threat of jetlag didn't scare them but Dawn threatening to go out and do her own investigating while they were snoozing sure had. Not that she wasn't planning on ditching them anyway…

They'd settled in a decent hotel after much complaining by Dawn that she wanted to stay at Buffy's place. Xander and Kennedy said it was too soon and would invite questions from the cop downstairs. Dawn planned on going over anyway, she wanted to see Buffy's new guy, or potential guy, or whatever he was for herself. She couldn't believe Buffy was seeing-

"What's with the face, Dawnie?" Xander asked, snatching the last of the nuts from the bag.

"I just can't believe Buffy had a new guy and I didn't know about it," she said, crumpling the bag and tossing it in the vicinity of the trash can.

"Not much to tell," Xander shrugged, then seeing Dawn's outrage that even he apparently knew before her, he rushed to continue. "She just mentioned it to Will. Just that they'd had dinner once and he was 'cute' or something. Didn't tell me anything either."

Well, that sounded pretty mild… Just one dinner didn't a boyfriend make, so she guessed she'd give her sister a pass on the lack of sharing. Thinking about him brought up the subject she'd been hesitant to broach, but now that Giles wasn't around…

"So, uh, what do you guys think about this whole letting him think he was seeing things stuff? I mean, I get Willow was just trying to help and acted in the spur of the moment and all, but… seems a little harsh."

Kennedy shrugged. "I think we have enough problems without having to babysit a newcomer to the supernatural world. If Buffy wants him in on this crap let her tell him about it when she wakes up. We have bigger fish to fry."

Xander gave Dawn a sympathetic look when she turned imploring eyes on him. "I'm not big of it either, Dawn, but I think Kennedy's right. For now anyway. Let's just concentrate on trying to find out what's going on around here first. We have a big bad that needs stopping – saving lives comes before saving sanity."

"Yeah, so fill me in here," Kennedy said, leaning forward in her seat. "I mean, I know the basics – Buffy comes to the city, girls start dying, Buffy's ex calls and says 'we got this' and we let it go – but that's about it. Any details?"

"That's pretty much the gist of it. We'll need to figure out who the Wolfram and Hart connection is in the department and try to get some information from them," Xander said, shaking his head in disgust. "And who knows if that'll be the truth. Should've never trusted them."

"We didn't have much choice," Dawn said, feeling a little superior at the moment, because she actually knew more of what was going on than Kennedy. "The murders were already being investigated by the time we found out they were our kind of gig. I was checking the weather for New York online for a delivery and saw the headline about murdered blonde girls. Freaked out since Buffy was already here by then, and had Willow check into it. As soon as she tried to hack into the police files the phone rang and Wolfram and Hart said they were already on it. Pretty freaky actually…"

"And since when do we trust evil to get rid of evil?" Kennedy asked. "I get that Buffy boned the boss over there, but seriously?"

"We didn't have anything to go on," Xander said grudgingly. "And before it got any further than debate it seemed like they'd actually taken care of it – the murders stopped, the cops had a logical explanation."

"But they hadn't actually taken care of it."

"No, and more girls got killed," Xander sighed. "For all we know that could've been their end game – lull us into a false sense of security so they can up the body count. Or maybe they were peeved at some unauthorized evil shenanigans going down and really thought they stopped it. Who knows."

"You think Buffy was the end game?" Kennedy asked. "I mean, all the other girls looked like her. Maybe it was looking for her the whole time?"

"That was Buffy's guess too," Dawn said. "She wanted to get out of the city, get it to follow her."

"Then why the hell didn't she?"

"Because it wasn't tracking her," Dawn bit out. "The girls it was killing looked like Buffy but weren't people she'd met or been associated with in any way. She'd never even been to the parts of the city that they lived, worked or died in. We still don't know if it just attacked her because she fit the profile it liked and just happened to bite off more than it could chew."

Dawn cringed at the poor choice of words and swallowed hard. Buffy was fine. She'd be fine. She was just resting, that was all.

"She was more useful here, trying to track it down, than leaving. If it was after her it obviously couldn't track her anyway," Xander said, rubbing his eye.

"Yet it still managed to find her," Kennedy shrugged.

"Yes, it did," Xander answered. "But she'd been out night after night looking for it at that point. Could've followed her home."

They were quietly contemplating that when there was a knock at the door, making them all jump.

"You order room service?" Dawn asked curiously.

"No," Xander said, pulling a stake from his bag – flying had its downsides with the limitation of pointy weapons.

He gestured to Kennedy who moved to the side of the door while he grabbed the handle, stake behind his back. Dawn moved toward the back of the room, not wanting to get in the way if there was going to be a fight.

The guy on the other side of the door was scary, but in a human kind of way. Really tall and kind of rough looking, he was wearing a green army jacket and Dawn could see the leather of a shoulder holster peeking through.

"Xander Harris?" He asked, looking bored.

"Depends who's asking," Xander said after a beat, straightening in a not subtle enough attempt to not look six inches shorter than the newcomer.

The guy shoved the door open wide, making Xander stumble and slid past him in a way that was eerily smooth for someone his size. He caught Kennedy's fist, easily stopping it before it hit him and making her eyes widen.

Not good…

"I go by many names. Around here it's Detective Ethan Slaughter. The only thing you really need to know about me is that Wolfram and Hart sent me."

Yeah, not good at all…


End file.
